| From the pages of Pottery Making Illustrated
Impressive Earrings by Frank James Fisher. Photos by Melissa Rickman
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Above: Earrings, 1¾ inches long, porcelain, raku fired to cone
06, by Melissa Rickman.
Left: Earrings can be packaged in a number of ways such as
these 2½ inch long raku-fired earrings on a card with a box.
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Throughout history, artisans have created clay jewelry. From primitive
cultures to ancient Egypt, through the Ming dynasties, up to and
including our modern times, clay has enhanced the fashion and culture
of the day in the form of beads, rings and other objects. As part of
our current culture, earrings have become an important accessory of
everyday fashion.
Melissa Rickman’s small ceramic abstract forms have become wearable
art, specifically, fashionable earrings. Rickman’s art is not created
to hang in a gallery or home, but to hang on her customers. During days
and evenings, in and out of the house, her patrons become a mobile
gallery, displaying her miniature ceramic artwork. Her earrings, which
she creates using transfer-imagery methods and raku firing, are
inspiring and always unique. |
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1. Roll out a 1/8 inch thick sheet of clay.
| 2. Create a grouping of impressions using stamps and textured surfaces.
| 3. Trim out matching pairs
of earrings.
| 4. Drill holes for the wire,
then smooth edges with a sponge.
| 5. After bisque, coat the top surface with glaze.
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Process
Create the Clay Slab
Begin by rolling out a thin slab of clay. To create a smooth clay surface, first cover the table surface with newspaper. Rolling the clay on canvas results in a woven fabric texture on the clay surface, which interferes with the final delicate surface impressions you create. Tip: Cover the clay with newspaper so the rolling pin will not stick to it. Using a rolling pin and wooden slats or dowels placed on either side of your clay to create a slab of even thickness, roll the clay until it is approximately 1/8 inch thick (figure 1). Use strips of Masonite to get the clay to the final thickness.
Add Texture
Printing blocks, household objects and even toys can be used to texture the clay surface. The only requirement is that the object with the transfer image must have a textured surface suitable for making an impression in the clay. Printing press blocks work well for adding text because the type is already reversed on the block, resulting in a positive image in the clay. To create pattern, almost any surface works as long as there is a texture. Tree bark, paint tray liners, embossed wallpaper, carved buttons and even floor mats provide wonderful results. The only limit is the scale of the pattern. Earrings have a small surface area, so the impressed texture or image must be an appropriate scale to be visible.
To mark the clay, randomly press the objects into the surface of the clay slab (figure 2). Take care not to press too hard or the clay in the recessed areas of the image will be too thin. The clay slab is relatively large, so there is plenty of space to experiment. Try overlapping images or merging partial impressions to create additional variety and depth. To create a matching pair of earrings, make a duplicate impression for the second earring.
The Art of Editing
After creating a slab full of textures or duplicate images, it’s time to ‘find’ the earrings. Look critically for the most interesting impressions. Visualize how you might trim the image into a final earring shape. Would round silhouettes work best? Triangles? Diamonds? How about narrow sticks? The cropped or trimmed image must be graphically appealing (figure 3).
After cutting out the first earring, find a section of the slab that either matches the texture or is complementary and lay the earring shape on top. Trace the shape’s edge with a knife to cut an exact duplicate. While the pair is stacked, poke a hole with a needle tool at the top of the earrings to accommodate a loop of wire (figure 4). For a larger diameter hole, twist a small drill bit through both earrings with your fingertips. Continue to cut out as many pairs of earrings as you want. Set these aside until leather hard.
Once the clay is leather hard, smooth the cut edges on each earring. Rub a damp elephant ear sponge along the edges to eliminate any burrs or crisp edges. Allow the clay to dry completely and then bisque fire.
Adding Color
Use glaze to accent and define the embossed image by glazing the entire surface (figure 5), then scrub the dry glaze away from the high points (figure 6) using a plastic kitchen scrubbing-pad. Because scrubbing dry glaze generates dust, be sure to wear a dust mask. A light pass with a damp sponge cleans any residue off of the high points.
At this point you can fire the earrings. If you raku fire the earrings, the bare clay carbonizes to black during post-firing reduction. In an oxidized glaze firing, the clay remains white. Should you wish to add another color, drag a brush (semi-damp with glaze) delicately across the high spots. This gives you color on the negative area of the design. You may also hand-paint glaze onto the individual design characteristics if you wish to have a precisely glazed design. Be sure to glaze only the front side of the earrings so that they do not fuse to the kiln shelf during the firing. |
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6. Scrub glaze off the high spots with a plastic scouring pad.
| 7. Place earrings on kiln shelf fragment during raku firing.
| 8. Bead, French hook and straight eyelet used to finish the earring.
| 9. Put bead on eyelet shaft and feed through the earring. | 10. Bend eyelet shaft at 90° then bend into a “U” shape.
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Raku Firing
Firing earrings in an oxidized kiln is
similar to any other firing, each one is placed face up so that no
glazed areas touch the shelf. However, for raku firing, the tiny
earrings are too small to pick up with tongs and cannot retain enough
heat to ignite the combustibles. The solution is to fire a group of
earrings on a small piece of broken kiln shelf.
When the raku kiln
has reached temperature, use tongs to grab the shelf fragment, then
gently slide the earrings off of it and onto the combustibles (figure
7). This ensures even exposure to carbonization on both the front and
back of the earrings. Lay the hot shelf fragment onto the combustibles
next to the earrings. Quickly drop a torn sheet of newspaper on top of
the group and seal the container to begin reduction. Remove earrings
from the container when they are cool enough to touch.
Finishing
To create the hooks for your earrings, you can
use a variety of hypoallergenic wires made specifically for
hand-crafted earrings. Rickman uses a 24-gauge, sterling silver wire.
She prefers the French hook style for her earrings (figure 8). To
attach this ready-made wire hook to the ceramic element, use a second
section of wire, made from an eye pin that, along with the hooks, can
be ordered online from jewelry supply companies.
The Connecting Wire
To begin, pass the straight length of
the eye pin through the front opening at the top of the ceramic
earring. The eyelet should be projecting out from the face of the
earring. If adding beads that are meant to hang above the ceramic part
of the earring, place them on the wire shaft before passing it through
the hole (figure 9).
Gripping the eye pin wire, use a pair of
needle-nose jewelry pliers to bend an “L” shape a short distance from
the eyelet. The small scale and diameter of the loop openings requires
the fine pointed tip of the pliers to hold and bend the wire accurately.
Next,
bend the length of eye pin wire protruding from the back of the earring
upward into a “U” shape (figure 10). The bend in the wire should be
loose enough for the earring to hang freely at the base of the “U.” |
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| 11. Bend wire shaft forward around connecting wire. | 12. Continue wrapping the wire around the shaft.
| 13. Attach the French hook and close with pliers.
| 14. A finished earring. |
With
your earring properly positioned on the wire, bend the wire from the
back over the top of the earring, crossing the other wire until it
projects forward at a 90° angle from the vertical eyelet (figure 11).
You may need to work the ceramic component within the wire loop a
little to ensure the earring has free movement. If it’s still too
tight, hold the wire in one hand and use the pliers to expand the wire
loop holding the earring. If the loop is too loose, compress the loop
with the pliers. With a little practice, it becomes much easier to
judge where to make the bends.
Next, take the wire end that you have
bent over the top and wrap it sideways around the vertical wire just
below the eyelet—stopping when the wire points straight out the back
(figure 12). The wrap should be done in one smooth, complete motion.
Snip
off the extra length of wire close to the vertical wire. The snipped
wire end is aimed backward creating a smooth wrapped coil when viewed
from the front. Once you’ve done this, the ceramic component is secured
to the eye pin wire.
Now, the earring and connecting wire need to be
secured to the eyelet in the French hook. Grip the French hook between
your fingers and open the eyelet slightly with the pliers. Slip the
open French hook eyelet through the eyelet on the connecting wire. Use
the pliers to pinch the open French hook eyelet closed (figure 13).
This earring is complete (figure 14). Repeat the same procedure to
create its mate.
There are many styles of earring hooks and loops as
well as accessories like beads and feathers to accent your artwork.
Explore the possibilities at your local craft store and check the
jewelry suppliers’ websites for further inspiration. •
Frank James Fisher is a frequent contributor to PMI. For more information, visit his website at www.frankjamesfisher.com. |
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